It has also affirmed the Baa3 ratings on senior unsecured notes issued by Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V., which are irrevocably and unconditionally guaranteed by Bharti.

“We expect Bharti's profitability to remain under pressure as competition remains at heightened levels over the near-term,” Annalisa Di Chiara, Moody's Vice President & Senior Credit Officer, said in an official statement Tuesday.

According to her, a permanent reduction in leverage to levels more appropriate for the Baa3 rating -- such that adjusted debt/EBITDA trends to 3.0x by June 2017 -- is unlikely.

Bharti’s leverage, she said, remained elevated at year-end, resulting in adjusted debt/EBITDA of 3.3x.

Moody's, in fact, continues to expect intense price competition over the next several quarters in the Indian telecoms sector, as operators, such as Bharti, implement plans and tariffs to protect and grow their market shares.

Intense competition, it said, would persist over the next 12 months as it expects Jio to remain aggressive in acquiring new subscribers and growing the data market.

Bharti's ability to expand profitability for its core Indian mobile operations relies on the company retaining its higher ARPU subscribers, while increasing the pace of subscriber acquisitions organically and through acquisitions, the global ratings agency said.

"While Bharti recorded 4.3% growth in reported consolidated EBITDA year-over year at 31 March 2017, the effects of intense competition in the India mobile services segment were particularly evident in the fourth quarter, as revenues and reported Ebitda for its India mobile services segment fell 11% and 19%, respectively," Di Chiara said.

This , she said, was partly offset by on-year Ebitda growth in non-mobile services in India as well as healthy Ebitda growth in Africa.